Conventionally, in printers and copy machines, organic substances and the like that are generated from a toner upon fusing are captured with a filter in a gas exhaust part. In the recent years, there are increasing demands on miniaturization of apparatuses, and a miniaturized printer without a filter is desired in order to be effective in accomplishing miniaturization, cost reductions, and reduction in maintenance. If a toner or a toner-blended component is scattered in an apparatus without a filter in a gas exhaust part as mentioned above, it would cause soiling not only inside the apparatus for forming fixed images but also in the environment outside the apparatus. Therefore, it is desired in a miniaturized printer that organic substances which are generated from a toner are reduced.
Meanwhile, with the miniaturization of the apparatus and the speeding-up of the printing speed, the toner is required to have low-temperature fixing ability, and toners satisfying both low-temperature fixing ability and durability are numerously studied.
For example, it is disclosed that a toner for electrophotography containing a vegetable wax having an acid value of 3 mgKOH/g or less, which is at least one member selected from candelilla wax, carnauba wax, and rice wax can be fused at a low fusing temperature, and has no disadvantages caused for practical purposes in offset properties, and excellent fixing strength to an image-transferring sheet (see JP-A-Hei-6-230600).
In addition, it is disclosed that in a toner for electrostatic image development containing a resin binder and a hydrocarbon wax, the toner having specified storage modulus and loss modulus, and having a specified endothermic onset temperature at an endothermic peak, a specified temperature of endothermic peak, a specified temperature of exothermic peak, and a specified exothermic peak intensity ratio has excellent fixing ability, offset resistance, and blocking resistance (see JP-A-Hei-5-249735, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,384,224).
In addition, it is disclosed that a toner containing a colorant and a resin binder as main components, and a polyethylene wax having a melting peak temperature as determined by DSC in the range of from 70° to 120° C. without substantially containing a part having a melting point of 50° C. or lower, has excellent fixing ability, offset resistance, and covering strength (see JP-A-Hei-7-36218).
It is disclosed that in a method for forming fixed images including flash-fusing fixed images formed with plural toners having different infrared absorbent properties at a wavelength ranging from 800 to 1000 nm in a single step, wherein a toner having an average absorbance at a wavelength ranging from 800 to 1000 nm of less than 1.0 contains a polyolefin wax having Mn of from 500 to 2,000 and Mw/Mn of from 1.0 to 2.0, the toner having an average absorbance at a wavelength ranging from 800 to 1000 nm of 1.0 or more contains a polyolefin wax having Mn of from 2,500 to 10,000, so that any disadvantages ascribed to excessive fusing of a black toner are not caused (see JP-A-2006-78689).
It is disclosed that in a method for forming fixed images including fusing a toner image formed on an image supporting member by a toner containing a releasing agent having a specified kinematic viscosity at a fusing nip part of a fixing apparatus according to a contact-heating method, to give fixed images, the fixing temperature at a fixing nip portion is held in a state that is higher than a melting point of the releasing agent by 50° to 100° C., so that the generation of offset phenomena and image defects such as belt-shaped or line image defects is suppressed even when fusing takes place at a high speed, whereby favorable fixed images can be obtained (see JP-A-2007-206178, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 7,799,500).